The DPRK changed its usual attitude of "ignoring" and launched public relations, which surprised some international human rights organizations. On the one hand, it believed that "pressure was effective" and on the other hand, it had to affirm that North Korea was "in the right direction". Lanhui surging information
On October 7th, North Korean diplomats held a rare meeting on the human rights situation in North Korea at the United Nations Headquarters in new york, USA, in response to external accusations, while acknowledging the shortcomings in improving human rights and saying that they would strive to improve people’s living standards.
The DPRK changed its usual attitude of "ignoring" and launched public relations, which surprised some international human rights organizations. On the one hand, it believed that "pressure was effective" and on the other hand, it had to affirm that North Korea was "in the right direction".
[admit that it needs to be improved]
On the same day, the Permanent Mission of the DPRK to the United Nations held a briefing on the human rights situation in a conference room at United Nations Headquarters, which was open to the public and invited representatives of some Member States and media reporters to participate. Reuters reported that the scene was crowded with diplomats and journalists.
The DPRK distributed to the permanent missions to the United Nations the report on human rights in North Korea published by the Korean Institute for Human Rights Studies last month. On behalf of this institution, Cui Mingnan, a senior diplomat, said at the meeting that the human rights record in North Korea may occasionally have some minor problems, but the country is on the right path.
"Our society is in a transitional period. As we move forward, there may be some problems. For example, in the economic and other fields, we may need to build more housing and social facilities to provide people with better living conditions."
"Because of this, there is a clear provision in our Constitution that the human rights and fundamental freedoms enjoyed by the people will be further expanded after social development," said the deputy director of the DPRK Foreign Ministry in charge of the United Nations and human rights affairs.
According to Cui Mingnan, North Korea’s economic problems are due to "external forces". Reuters said that this remark meant that North Korea was subject to international sanctions for several nuclear tests and ballistic missile tests.
[Responding to "absurd rumors"]
The United Nations Human Rights Council’s International Commission of Inquiry on the Human Rights Situation in North Korea issued a report in February this year, severely accusing North Korea. The DPRK determined that this committee was dominated by the United States and its followers, and the report was fabricated based on false materials. On September 13th, the North Korean Human Rights Research Association published a 109-page report on North Korea’s human rights policy and human rights protection system, explaining the current situation of human rights in North Korea and refuting smear remarks.
The report of the DPRK accuses the "hostile forces" of continuously spreading the "human rights issue" of the DPRK, slandering and slandering the DPRK, trying to destroy its image and overthrow its social system, and causing the international community to spread "absurd rumors" about the DPRK.
On October 7th, Cui Mingnan tried to ease his criticism of the human rights situation in North Korea and answered several questions from the participants.
He reiterated that there are no "concentration camps" in North Korea, but he admitted that there are "detention centers" in North Korea, where "some people reflect on their mistakes, improve their ideological understanding and reform through labor".
Cui Mingnan also expressed dissatisfaction with some countries’ attempts to urge the UN General Assembly to condemn the human rights situation in North Korea. The Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee of the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution calling on North Korea to improve its human rights situation around November last year. Since 2003, the European Union and Japan have drafted relevant resolutions every year.
[Proposed Dialogue with Europe]
Ri Dong Il, North Korea’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said at the meeting that a secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea recently visited the EU headquarters, indicating that North Korea is interested in dialogue with the EU on human rights issues. It is expected that the dialogue will be held next year.
"We look forward to the political dialogue between the two sides at the end of this year," Ri Dong Il said, and the human rights dialogue will follow closely.
Ri Dong Il’s visit should refer to Jiang Xizhu, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea in charge of international affairs and member of the Political Bureau, visiting Belgian and other European countries in the first half of September. At the EU headquarters in Brussels, an EU official confirmed that the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Stavros Lan burini, recently met with the DPRK, but any dialogue planned at this stage will be limited to human rights issues.
Cui Mingnan emphasized that North Korea does not oppose human rights dialogue as long as it is not used as a "tool of interference".
Greg Scarlatoiu, executive director of the Washington-based "North Korea Human Rights Commission", said in an email sent to media reporters that the February report of the United Nations put North Korea on the defensive, the DPRK first admitted the existence of a "labor camp" on the 7th, and the previous contact with EU human rights officials showed that the DPRK realized that the discussion on the human rights situation in North Korea would not fade. This is "a cautious step in the right direction."
While criticizing the human rights situation in North Korea, Scarlatoiu believes that "senior North Korean officials are now talking about human rights, and it is very important to express their interest in human rights dialogue, even if it is only in form". After all, the way North Korea used to treat human rights issues was to completely ignore the reports of some international non-governmental organizations, national governments or United Nations agencies.
Parame-pritt Singh, senior consultant of Human Rights Watch, a non-governmental organization, attended the meeting on October 7th and expressed surprise at this public relations move. She believes that the DPRK may intentionally contain the draft UN General Assembly resolution, but "the importance of this move lies in the fact that the DPRK has never held such activities", and it seems that the DPRK was "not affected by pressure" before.
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